Organ Donations Give Second Chance

By Kristi Hosko

February 17, 2006

Sophomore Candice Monroe knows the value of life firsthand.

During her sophomore year of high school, a doctor determinmed she had an enlarged heart after being misdiagnosed twice.

Her parents did not want to take any chances knowing heart problems run in the family.

Her sister had a heart transplant in 1993.

After being put on medication that didn’t cure her condition, she went on the organ transplant list.

"I waited on the donor list for two and a half weeks, which I considered amazing. In that time of waiting, I was really frail and sickly," Monroe said.

"The doctor said if I didn’t get a call soon, I would need a Left Ventricular Assist Device, or there was no chance for me. That morning my cardiologist told me they found a heart for me.

"On Feb. 7, 2002 I got my new heart."

How do recipients get connected with those who are in need of a particular organ?

According to organdonor.gov, patients are matched to organs based on a factors such as blood and tissue typing, medical urgency, time on the waiting list, and geographical location.

In the Cleveland area, donors and recipients work through LifeBanc, a non-profit organ donating organization northeast of the city.

In Monroe’s case, the match was a 15-year old female. Besides the donors name, she wasn’t given much information.

"I know she loved skittles," she said. "It’s weird because after my surgery, I had a love for wild berry skittles."

One high-profile case of an organ transplant is 38-year-old Isabelle Dinoire of France.

After her face was mostly destroyed by her dog, she was in need of restructure. The lower half of her face was donated by a family who had lost their loved one.

More than 90,000 people are waiting for an organ donation.

Eighteen people die each day waiting for transplants because of the shortage of donated organs.

According to organdonor.gov, only 74 people receive needed transplants per day.

Any person can indicate a preference for becoming a donor.

What plays a more important role than age is the physical condition of the donor at the time that the transplant would be necessary.

Organs that are up for donation include heart, pancreas, lungs, liver, intestines and kidneys.

"Approximately 35 percent of the people who need kidney transplants are African American," said Jeanine Carroll, representative from LifeBanc.

"Our job at LifeBanc is to educate people about the growing need for organ donors. We go into classrooms, especially trying to speak with those who are about to get their licenses."

LifeBanc said donation isn’t simply a process that occurs after death.

There are more than 7,000 transplants each year including skin, heart valves, bone marrow, corneas and connective tissue, which can be donated in parts.

A common question regarding organ donation is the cost. There are no costs to the family of a donor.

The recipient has the responsibility of dealing with donor finances, which goes through medical insurance or Medicare.

Other frequent concerns include religion. Most faiths support tissue, organ and eye donation.

They see it "as the final act of love and generosity toward others," a LifeBanc brochure said.

Director of Applied Ethics Paul Lauritzen said, "Most organ donor support groups can provide prospective donors with information about the specific views of particular religious traditions, so it is always worth asking.

"However, generally, most major religious traditions in this country support organ donation."

He also noted that while the late Pope John Paul II believed organ donation can be abused, his generally positive comments are typical of what most religious leaders would say.

"We should rejoice that medicine, in its service of life, has found in organ transplantation a new way of serving the human family, precisely by safeguarding that fundamental good of the person," Pope John Paul II said.

Carroll said those who wish to be donors can tell the DMV or obtain a donor card from LifeBanc.

Monroe is grateful for her second chance at life.

"Since the transplant, I think I’m a stronger person and I take life more seriously. When you almost lose your life you take nothing for granted."

Copyright © 2003 The Carroll News, John Carroll University.

This article posted March 5, 2006.